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Game Boy

Game Boy
An original Game Boy
Also known as
  • KR: Mini Comboy
DeveloperNintendo R&D1
ManufacturerNintendo
Product familyGame Boy[1]
TypeHandheld game console
GenerationFourth
Release date
Lifespan14 years
Introductory price
  • ¥12,500 (equivalent to ¥14,327 in 2019)[5]
  • US$89.99 (equivalent to $221.19 in 2023)[5][6]
  • £99 (equivalent to £239.38 in 2021)[7]
DiscontinuedMarch 31, 2003
Units sold118.69 million (including all variants and Game Boy Color)[8]
MediaGame Boy Game Pak
CPUSharp LR35902 @ 4 MHz
Memory8 KB RAM, 8 KB VRAM
DisplaySTN LCD 160 × 144 px, 47 mm × 43 mm (1.9 in × 1.7 in)
Best-selling gameTetris (approx. 35 million units)[9]
PredecessorGame & Watch
SuccessorGame Boy Color[10]

The Game Boy is an 8-bit, fourth generation, handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America and Europe later that year. Designed by the team behind the Game & Watch handhelds and NES games (Satoru Okada, Gunpei Yokoi, and R&D1),[11][12] it was Nintendo's first portable console, combining features from both.

The Game Boy features a dot-matrix screen with adjustable contrast, a directional pad, four game buttons, a single monaural speaker with volume control, and uses Game Pak cartridges. The two-toned gray design with black, blue, and dark magenta accents sported softly rounded corners, except for the bottom right which was curved. At launch, it was sold either as a standalone unit, or bundled with games like Super Mario Land and Tetris, with accessories like carrying pouches, a camera, and a printer available.

Despite mixed reviews criticizing its monochrome graphics and larger size compared to competitors like the Sega Game Gear, Atari Lynx, and NEC TurboExpress, the Game Boy outsold them rapidly.[13] It sold one million units in the United States within weeks.[14] An estimated 118.69 million units of the Game Boy and its successor, the Game Boy Color (1998),[10] have been sold worldwide,[8] making it the fourth best-selling console ever. A cultural icon of the 1990s, the Game Boy received several redesigns during its lifespan, including the smaller Game Boy Pocket (1996) and the backlit Game Boy Light (1998). Production continued until 2003, well after its direct successor, the Game Boy Advance, launched in 2001.

  1. ^ Ishihara; Morimoto. "Pokémon HeartGold Version & Pokémon SoulSilver Version". Iwata Asks (Interview: Transcript). Interviewed by Satoru Iwata. Nintendo. Archived from the original on November 24, 2022. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  2. ^ White, Dave (July 1989). "Gameboy Club". Nintendo Power. No. 7. p. 84.
  3. ^ "retrodiary: 1 April – 28 April". Retro Gamer. No. 88. Bournemouth: Imagine Publishing. April 2011. p. 17. ISSN 1742-3155. OCLC 489477015.
  4. ^ "Video Games Around the World: South Africa". Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Happy 20th b-day, Game Boy: here are 6 reasons why you're #1". Ars Technica. September 7, 2015. Archived from the original on August 15, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  6. ^ "The Real Cost of Gaming: Inflation, Time, and Purchasing Power". October 15, 2013. Archived from the original on September 15, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  7. ^ "Console Crazy!". ACE. No. 37. September 1990. p. 142. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference consolidatedsales was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "All-time best selling console games worldwide 2018 | Statistic". Statista. Archived from the original on May 21, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Umezu; Sugino. "Nintendo 3DS (Volume 3 – Nintendo 3DS Hardware Concept)". Iwata Asks (Interview: Transcript). Interviewed by Satoru Iwata. Nintendo. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  11. ^ Beuscher, Dave. "Game Boy – Overview". Allgame. Archived from the original on December 12, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2008. A team headed by Gumpei Yokoi [sic] designed the Game Boy. Yokoi had previously designed handheld games for Nintendo with the cartridge-based Game & Watch system, introduced in 1980. His staff, called Research and Development (R and D) team #1, had designed the successful NES games Metroid and Kid Icarus. What Yokoi's team did was create a hybrid of the NES and the Game & Watch systems.
  12. ^ "Satoru Okada talks Game & Watch, Game Boy and Nintendo DS development". Issue 163. Retro Gamer Magazine. 2016. Archived from the original on January 1, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  13. ^ "AtariAge – Lynx History". AtariAge. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2016. Eventually the Lynx was squeezed out of the picture and the handheld market was dominated by the Nintendo GameBoy with the Sega Game Gear a distant second.
  14. ^ Kent 2001, p. 416. "According to an article in Time magazine, the one million Game Boys sent to the United States in 1989 met only half the demand for the product. That allotment sold out in a matter of weeks and its black and white (except for Konami/Factor 5 games and SeaQuest DSV), was shown in color like the Game Gear version."

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